Relief, relief, Theodoulos, man wants, relief from the nature that oppresses him, from the fear of nature, from the forces of nature. Destined by the Creator to be the ruler over nature (cf. Gen. 1:28), man became its servant and slave.

Who will bring relief to a person, who will give freedom? Who will return him to power over nature? None other than the One Who gave him this power over nature in the beginning.

He who made the heavens with his word, and with the spirit of his mouth all the host of heaven,

Who said, Let there be light, and there was light,

Who separated the light from the darkness, and the sea from the land,

Who commanded the earth to bring forth grass and trees,

Who commanded the sun and the moon and the stars to appear in the vault of heaven,

Who caused the waters to be filled with fish, and the air with birds, and the earth with flocks and herds and beasts, all after their kind,

and Who at last created man, and gave him dominion over the earth, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea... and over the birds of the air... and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Indeed, Theodoulos, only He can restore man to the dignity of lord over nature, Who gave it to him from the beginning, and man has destroyed this dignity by his sin, like that prodigal son, who, having separated from his father, destroyed his property and became the servant of an evil master;

only He Who from time to time returned this Divine gift to individual righteous and His chosen ones;

Who, through His servant Moses, performed ten terrible miracles in Egypt;

Who divided the Red Sea, and led His people on the dry bottom of the sea;

Who cut the rock in the wilderness, and brought forth water for the thirsty people;